Tushy Affiliate Program Management
Background:
TUSHY doesn’t just selling bidets, they introduce a new lifestyle to American consumers — truly leading a movement.
But in the US where people use about 57 sheets of TP every day and find the idea of using a bidet alien at best, it’s not like you can just open up a store and expect people to change habits they learned as toddlers.
You have to educate, enlighten, engage and maybe entertain a little to help change mindsets and convert customers, which means you can’t just rely on lower-funnel interactions with consumers.
A year into its affiliate program, TUSHY’s partnerships primarily comprised deal and coupon sites. They had no upper-funnel affiliates or influencers to help broader audiences discover and engage with the brand. They needed to change that.
The Goal
TUSHY knew they needed to get a much wider variety of affiliate partners on board. They set two goals for the DMi partnership:
Create a more diverse influencer portfolio that would generate the upper-funnel exposure, awareness, and revenue they needed to be more than the butt of a joke.
Grow overall affiliate program size and revenue
The Plan
TUSHY signed on with affiliate agency DMi Partners to help create a full-funnel and diversified affiliate program that would provide the education and broad awareness-generation they needed to inspire new audiences and grow.
DMi took one look at their existing program and the company and immediately saw the incredible potential. But where were all the great partnerships? Where was the buzz? Where was the UGC?
Another key part of DMi’s diversification plan for TUSHY was to build strategic partnerships with influencers that had the potential to help TUSHY tap into new audiences.
For example, they looked to affiliates such as Lauren McBride, a mom who lives in CT with her husband and three children and lives a pretty normal lifestyle. Lauren’s content resonates with mainstream audiences who might otherwise not consider such a niche product.
Partner Development Strategy
Jump-Starting Placements
They offered an aggressive revenue share opportunity that made it enticing for affiliate influencers to both produce great content and produce it fast. Leveraging impact.com technology and reporting, the DMi team was able to accurately track incremental performance from the commission increase opportunity.
Focusing On Differentiators
By promoting TUSHY USPs like easy installation and low investment cost, DMi campaigns helped increase TUSHY’s competitiveness, which in turn made the brand more appealing for affiliates to promote.
Educating Niche Influencers
The team shared messages to help influencers educate their audiences on the benefits of its bidets and the TUSHY Ottoman tapping into audiences like new mothers, the LGBTQ community,sustainability advocates, etc.
Newsworthy Fun
To bring awareness to the 15 million trees cut down every year to make toilet paper, TUSHY hosted a literal funeral for a tree (Will O. Baum) in NYC. The event inspired people to use a bidet by showing them how it saves trees, water, and money to wash vs. wipe. Affiliates like SheKnows, US Weekly, and Tree Hugger covered the event through Skimlinks on a pure revenue share basis.
The Results
16x
Upper-Funnel Content Partnerships Growth Since 2020
- TUSHY’s affiliate program included 30+ revenue driving influencers that drove 5% of program revenue including few standouts like Get Green Now, Lauren McBride, Sustainable Duo, Dope Kitchen, and Sustainable Shelbi. Influencers now drive 5% of affiliate revenue.
- TUSHY’s AOV through influencer initiatives was 12% higher than the AOV of other partnership types
800%
Affiliate Program Revenue Growth
200
Revenue-Share Premium Placements in 2021
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